I like this

I recently shared briefly at the Tucson Ministry Alliance's monthly luncheon on behalf of the Tucson Refugee Ministry. They asked me to come and tell about the experiences that a small group of us, including my family and I, had while befriending a family that came to Tucson as refugees from the Congo. I shared a couple of stories about that experience, but here is one story I did not share.

One night, we went to visit our friends apartment with our family and another young lady and her children. Another lady and her daughter, who had also come here as refugees, were also visiting when we arrived. After we talked for a little bit, the other lady looked at us skeptically and began to question us.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"How do you know these people?"

It became clear to me that she was very suspicious of us and she did not seem to want us there at all. Then she said something that surprised me.

She said, "I like this. People. Will you come to my house too?"

Sadly, we never did. In fact, the majority of the over 1,000 refugees that will be coming to Tucson this year will have no-one to come visit them and be their friend. But they are asking, "will you come to my house too?"